The Times did an article today on sleep problems.
"Sleep.
Increasingly, Americans are failing to carry out this basic human function. The National Institutes of Health says more than 70 million people suffer each year from chronic to sporadic sleep problems — a number that's expected to swell in tandem with our burgeoning waistlines, advancing age, erratic work schedules and 24-hour lifestyles.
The rise in diagnosed disorders has spawned a proliferation of sleep institutes across the country, where patients pay $3,000 and up for trained technicians to monitor their sleep patterns overnight. Since 1995, accredited sleep clinics in the United States have more than tripled, from 297 to 963. Many more are unaccredited.
Pharmaceutical companies are also fueling America's sleep commerce, raking in billions from sales of popular prescription drugs like Lunesta and Ambien. More than 38.3 million sleeping-pill prescriptions were dispensed last year, according to Verispan, a Pennsylvania research firm that tracks health-care data.
Sleep deprivation erodes memory and concentration, doctors say. It disturbs neurological function, inhibits tissue and muscle restoration and slackens reflexes."
I think this trend is caused by people not getting enough exercise and being fat. Sad.